Final Fantasy XIV hits 10m players worldwide

Hot off the back of its latest expansion, Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy XIV has now surpassed 10m cumulative players worldwide.

That figure does, admittedly, include free trial accounts, but to put that number in perspective, that's still more than the total population of Scotland and Wales combined. Previously, players had to buy the base version of the game on top of paying subscription fees, but in March the publisher introduced the Final Fantasy XIV Free Trial, which lets anyone access the main game up to Level 35, create up to eight playable characters, and experience all the different races, classes and jobs without any restrictions on playtime.

The milestone coincides with the start of the game's annual Moonfire Faire seasonal event, which begins today and last over the course of August. During this time, players can participate in a special adventure to face off against Ultros and earn a variety of awards, including a dyeable Faire version of popular equipment.

The Stormblood expansion released back in June earlier this year, and introduced two new jobs, an increased level cap and a new storyline in new areas. It debuted at No.23 in the UK charts, with a roughly equal sales split between its physical PC and PS4 versions, but due to the nature of Stormblood being an expansion, most of its sales were no doubt bought digitally.

Stormblood was naturally very popular in Japan, where the physical PS4 version of Stormblood sold over 29,000 copies during its first week, debuting at No.3 inFamitsu's weekly charts. The physical version of Final Fantasy XIV Online: The Complete Edition also saw an uplift in sales that week, re-entering the charts at No.7 with another 6,200 units sold on PS4.

Square Enix's latest fiscal report,released yesterday, also highlighted Final Fantasy XIV's continued performance, noting its increase in monthly subscribers and positive contributions to both net sales and operating income.